David Benavidez has no shortage of HUGE fights on his radar. In an exclusive interview with BoxingScene, Jose Benavidez Sr. makes it clear that David still wants the biggest names at 175lbs including Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. Benavidez has previously said those are two fights he wants to make as he pursues more titles and major challenges. But there’s another name that could make things very interesting: Andy Ruiz Jr. Jose discusses the possibility of an all-Mexican showdown between Benavidez and the former heavyweight champion, along with David’s plans across multiple divisions. And with a potential Jai Opetaia showdown also building after the pair came face-to-face following Opetaia’s latest victory, Benavidez has some massive options ahead.
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German Agon Sports had a bad week beginning April 6 in Falkensee when Jack Culcay lost to Bakhram Murtazaliev in a fight for the vacant IBF junior middleweight title. This was not an upset, but it was still a bad loss for Culcay and Agon.
On the undercard, Haro Matevosyan (18-1) was stopped by Uisma Lima (12-1) and lost the IBF Intercontinental junior middleweight title in a big surprise – fighting as though his head was elsewhere.
On April 13, Agon promoted a show at the Agon Sportspark in Berlin and Granit Shala (15-1) lost to Oleksandr Zakhozyi (19-0) in a fight for the vacant EBU heavyweight title. This was an even matchup but Shala chose to trade with a puncher and paid the price.
Promoter Ingo Volckmann addressed the losses on Instagram while on vacation in Costa Rica and said that the 38-year old Culcay might still continue fighting, Matevosyan vs Lima would be rematched and as for Shala, he will be back.
One Agon fighter that is still undefeated is super middle William Scull (21-0), who will be featured on the undercard to Canelo Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia May 4 in Las Vegas.
Scull is the mandatory challenger for the IBF super middleweight title and has been waiting for his chance to fight Alvarez since he beat Evgeny Shvedenko in the summer of 2022.
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Former EBU heavyweight challenger John Westgarth passed away recently at the age of 64. Back in 1986 Westgarth, 7-3-2 coming into the fight, got the chance on short notice to fight Norwegian Steffen Tangstad (then 23-1-2) in Randers Denmark for the vacant EBU title and lost a split decision after a tough, messy and exciting fight where Westgarth floored Tangstad. As it was, Steffen fought Michael Spinks for the IBF heavyweight title (and was stopped in four but earned a minor fortune along the way) in his next fight.
For Westgarth, it was back to tough fights in the U.K. (with another trip to Denmark in 1988, where he lost to Magne Havnaa. Westgarth retired in 1992 with a 11-15-3 record and then turned to rugby.
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Cuba-born, but now residing in Spain, Carlos Lamela (8-3) won the vacant EBU Silver title this past weekend with a knockout in the 12th and final round over previously-undefeated Mansur Elsaev (18-1) in Vienna (Austria).
Lamela, who was 3-3 after his first six fights, floored his opponent in the 11th and knocked out Elsaev early in the next round.
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In Zagreb, Croatia, Ivana Habazin (23-5) won the vacant WBC and WBA Interim female super welterweight titles with a 10-round decision over Hungarian Kinga Magyar (14-5).
On the undercard, Swedish heavyweight champion Pezhman Seifkani (17-1) returned to action after a brief layoff due to injuries and knocked out Bosnian Demir Gulamic (6-10-2) in the fifth.
